My hero
by aonalion
Summary: On his way home, Jonouchi saves a small kid from being run over, which leads to an interesting conversation with his lover. Oneshot, Jonouchi x Kaiba


Going home from work wasn't what it used to be for Jonouchi. He used to dread it, go slow, make the path extra long and take detours whenever he could. Before, he didn't want to go home after work, since he feared what would meet him when he came back and what he would have to put up with until it finally became time for him to leave again.

But now he longed for the moment when he got back – it wasn't that he didn't like his job, because he did – but he still couldn't wait until he came home to his family. He had a family. The family itself might've been a bit odd and not the one you'd normally think of, but he loved them with all of his heart and wanted to be with them for… well, forever. A smile swept over his face at the thought. He was sure they wanted to be with him as well.

The shortest path he had managed to find went near a pre-school, and by the time his job ended the streets were always filled with children and their parents. That particular day, however, one kid among many caught his attention without him realizing why.

He went by himself, unlike many of the others, but he had a certain confidence in the way he walked – it looked as if he didn't need anyone else, despite being only around five or maybe six years old. He had fluffy brown hair and big brown eyes and was easy to spot in the crowd. Jonouchi looked after him while he walked, the kid crossing his path right in front of him and continuing on, seemingly without noticing anything happening around him. The blond couldn't help but stop and watch his back as he walked away. Why was he getting such an ill-boding feeling all of a sudden?

Then the brown-haired child suddenly started running, and Jonouchi's eyes widened. He was heading straight out into the street, where cars drove by at a speed way too high. And then Jonouchi saw why the kid was running; right there, in the middle of a street, sat a lonely kitten, meowing helplessly.

Dropping his bag and the jacket he had thrown over his shoulder, Jonouchi sat off after the kid.

"Hey!"

He wasn't fast enough; the boy managed to run out into the street before he could get to him – and what happened afterwards went by so fast his brain hardly had time to register it. He continued running – all he heard was the screeching from brakes, honks and shouts, and he saw the kid bend down before he bent down himself. He suddenly had his arms wrapped around a warm but small body, but didn't break stride, continuing to run.

Suddenly he was standing on the other side of the street, with the kid in his arms, breathing heavily and his eyes wide open in shock. For a moment, he simply stared at the cars driving by, still at the same speed.

"Hey, why did you do that?" a small voice said angrily. Jonouchi looked down, part of his brain still numb with surprise and adrenaline – and saw a pair of brown eyes look up at him. "Lemme down!" He started to struggle to get lose.

Jonouchi carefully put down the child and ran his fingers through his hair, mentally counting to ten not to snap at the kid. It was only then he noticed the boy actually had the kitten safely in his arms, even though it was squirming to get free.

"Ya hafta be careful," the blond said and knelt down next to the kid, who pouted. "Ya can't just run out in the street like that, ya could've been killed!"

"But I wanted to save it!" the child said and unintentionally squeezed the kitten harder, and it let out a meow. Jonouchi managed to take the kitten from the kid's hands and put it down on the pavement, making sure it wasn't going to go out into the street again. It stretched before running away into some nearby bushes.

Looking at the kid again, Jonouchi noticed that he had a deck holder hanging from his belt, and couldn't help but smile tiredly.

"Well yeah, I get that, but ya still hafta think about yerself at first. If ya would've died, ya couldn't have saved the kitten, right?"

The kid looked away and scraped at the ground with his shoes, mumbling something.

"Whussat?"

"Heroes can't die!" he said and looked up, his brown eyes fierce. Jonouchi blinked in genuine surprise, but then smiled.

"I see. Well, I think ya can become a hero."

"Really?" The boy instantly brightened up.

"Yep! But I think ya hafta wait a few years, until yer old enough to cross the streets on yer own." The kid's pout immediately came back, and he crossed his arms. "But yanno, ya can be a hero by doin' other things."

"Like what?" the brown-haired boy wondered skeptically.

"Like, by simply bein' nice. Not everyone in this world is nice all the time, and we need people who are," Jonouchi said with a grin. He knew far too well what he was talking about. The boy, however, still looked a bit disbelieving. Jonouchi chuckled slightly and ruffled his hair, much to the kid's obvious dismay. "Just don't do anythin' dangerous like that again, okay?"

"Alright, fine," he finally said and uncrossed his arms.

"You'll be alright on yer on, right?" Jonouchi couldn't help but ask. He didn't want the child to run into trouble again on his way home.

"Yeah, I live just around the corner." He bit his lip, looking away for a moment. "Thanks for saving me, though. You're my hero now!" he added, and grinned wildly. Before Jonouchi managed to do anything but blink in surprise, the kid had run off, leaving the blond by himself.

Letting out a light laughter, Jonouchi stood up again and went to retrieve his belongings on the other side of the street before continuing home. He had a smile on his face the entire way back – he liked kids, and that one had really reminded him of himself when he was younger.

He always tried to be as quiet as possible when going into his lover's house – _their_ house – hoping to surprise him for once, but somehow it was as if his presence was immediately known.

"There you are," a calm voice said behind him just as he was about to sneak around a corner, and he suddenly felt a pair of arms around his waist. Turning around, dropping his bag and jacket in the process, Jonouchi found himself looking up into beautiful sapphire eyes. "I was just about to call you."

"Hey," Jonouchi smiled and put his arms around Kaiba's neck, drawing him down into a tender kiss. He let out a contented sigh and closed his eyes, feeling the brunet's hold around his waist tighten.

"How was work?" Kaiba breathed against his skin, moving his lips along Jonouchi's jaw-line.

"Mmm, like usual…" the blond responded, not really caring about that at the moment. Kaiba nibbled at the lobe of his ear and he squirmed without being able to stop a snicker from escaping. He pushed Kaiba back a little to be able to kiss him properly again. "I had to save a kid from getting run over on my way back, though."

"Really? What happened?" Even though he wanted to hide it, Jonouchi could hear the worry in his voice and see the anxiety his eyes, and it made him smile.

"He ran out in the middle of the street to save a kitten. He said he wanted to be a hero."

"Hn," was all Kaiba said and met Jonouchi's eyes without really seeing him. The blond frowned. But then Kaiba was right there again, reluctantly letting go of him. "I got a call from Pegasus today, actually," he said, bending down to pick up Jonouchi's jacket while said person took his bag.

"Really?"

"Yes. He wanted to arrange some kind of competition for children, but not a tournament. And he wanted me to think of something." They started walking down the hallway as they spoke, heading for the kitchen. Jonouchi had been able to figure out a thing or two about Kaiba since they started dating, and he could tell the brunet was a bit annoyed.

"So what would it be if it's not a tournament?" he wondered cautiously.

"I don't know." He had a clear frown on his face now.

Jonouchi hummed in response. He wanted to help Kaiba think of something, not just to help him out but for the kids as well, but he had a feeling he was even less likely to think of a good idea than Kaiba was. Still, it never hurt to try.

"How 'bout a cosplay competition?"

Kaiba opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again and shook his head.

"They children would get help from their parents; that would be cheating. There's no way an eight-year-old could make an entire cosplay all by themselves."

"Yeah…" Jonouchi agreed; he hadn't thought about that. He had just said the first thing that came to mind, like usual. But he knew Kaiba didn't mind – in fact, he was fairly sure that was one of the reasons he liked him so much.

Coming out in the kitchen, they saw Mokuba running around, stirring in pots and pans and chopping up vegetables. He had a fairly dirty apron on, and they could tell there had been some sort of incident near the sink, even though he had tried to clean it up. His black hair was even bigger than usual; the steam from the pots made it curl up and become an uncontrollable mess.

"Seto! Jou!" he said once he saw them. He ran over to them and Jonouchi ruffled his hair, much to Kaiba's dismay, since it only made things worse.

"Hey, Mokuba. Whatcha cookin'?"

"Pasta with blue cheese sauce and clams!" he answered happily and seemed to be pleased with himself. Jonouchi grinned at him but then accidentally glanced over the small teen's shoulder and couldn't help but frown.

"… Then why are you frying a couple of sausages?"

"That's if I get hungry while cooking!"

Jonouchi simply stared at him. Then he snorted and started laughing, while Kaiba was still stuck on staring. Mokuba grinned and then ran back to the oven, just barely stopping the sauce from overcooking. Still laughing lightly, Jonouchi turned back to Kaiba, who had closed his eyes as if he had given up.

"D'ya think he's eatin' so much to make up for the fact that _yer_ barely eatin' anything at all?" he wondered and tried to look innocent. Kaiba sent him a dark glare. "Oh come on. Don't be like that…" His innocent smile turned into a smirk and he caught Kaiba by the collar of his coat, pulling him close. A smirk that matched Jonouchi's instantly appeared on Kaiba's lips as well and he leaned in closer, turning his head slightly, his eyes becoming half-lidded.

"Hey, no making out in the kitchen!" Mokuba yelled from over by the oven. "You'll ruin the food!"

Jonouchi grinned but he did receive a light kiss square on the lips before the two of them sat down by the kitchen island and watched Mokuba hurry around, wondering if they should help him or not. He guaranteed them that it was fine and that he didn't need any help, but once, Kaiba had to turn off the water before the sink and the entire kitchen was flooded.

After quite a while, the food was ready and they could finally begin eating. Mokuba chatted away like usual, Jonouchi answered him every once in a while and Kaiba was quiet like usual. The blond could tell Pegasus request was bothering him, and cleared his throat.

"Hey, Seto… have ya asked Mokuba about that competition?"

"What competition?" Mokuba asked and was immediately all ears. Kaiba smiled ever so slightly.

"Pegasus wanted me to think of an idea for a competition for children, but not a tournament."

"Ohh…!" Mokuba said and both Jonouchi and Kaiba couldn't help but smile at his eagerness. "So what are you going to do?"

"I'm not sure, Mokuba. Do you have an idea?"

"Hmm… How about a masquerade?"

"Katsuya already thought about that," Kaiba said in a way that meant 'Katsuya already thought about that and I've already rejected the idea'. Jonouchi didn't really mind. Mokuba seemed to have gotten the hint as well.

"Oh. But… what else is there to do?" He frowned, and Jonouchi did as well. Kaiba continued eating, but the blond knew he was thinking just as hard as them. He also knew that before he got a good idea, he wouldn't concentrate on anything else, and he probably wouldn't sleep much either. Jonouchi wanted to help him, preferably before that happened.

He scratched his head and stared out in space for a moment. But then he suddenly blinked and focused on what it was he had in front of him. It was Mokuba's old drawings that Kaiba had put up on the fridge, just like parents would in a normal family. There were two picturing the Blue Eyes White Dragon, one of the Red Eyes Black Dragon, and several others showing different Duel Monsters. You could really tell how old Mokuba had been when he made them, and that he had gotten better over time.

"Hey, I know! Why don't you have a designing competition where the kids can make their own Duel Monsters cards, and then the winner's designs actually gets made into real cards!"

Both Kaiba and Mokuba stared at him. For a split second, Jonouchi regretted what he had said and thought it was a bad idea. Then a rare but genuine smile spread across Kaiba's face, and Mokuba grinned as well.

"That's a great idea!" the black-haired teen said, and Kaiba agreed by leaning in and kissing Jonouchi thoroughly. "Eww…!"

"I'll tell Pegasus first thing tomorrow morning," Kaiba said once he finally broke away. Jonouchi smiled, and then grinned even wider when the brunet continued. "And I'll make sure to tell him it was your idea."

"Heh, thanks."

In his mind, Jonouchi's thoughts quietly returned to the kid he had met earlier. Somehow, he hoped that the boy would enter the competition. Maybe he would draw some kind of heroes, just like the ones he wanted to be like himself.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** This is my 12th puppyshipping story. Seriously. Although, it is the first one where they're already a couple xD  
>Also, I'm wondering how many people will get this story. I mean, truly get it. If you get it you know what I mean, which is the best part *smugface*<p> 


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